I will no long be updating this blog. Here is the link to my new website:
http://brandonrwalters.webs.com
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
One Year In, Still Going Strong
Well, like I said, after a long 2 month struggle, I finally have internet at home. This struggle was a reminder to me of how difficult the daily life can be living in a different country. Whether you’re living in style in a rich Western European capital, or living under a grass hut in utter poverty (I think my situation falls somewhere in-between), there still is at least one parallel between the situations: you don’t live in familiarity. Had I had the same situation under similar conditions back home in America, I would have had internet set up and working at home in absolutely no more than a week. But here, even though I am becoming familiar and comfortable with the way things work, and despite the fact that I have enough knowledge of the language to communicate with locals, the fact remains that I still must rely on local friends and family, and in this instance on people I didn’t even know, to do even seemingly simple things like set up internet. I won’t go into details of why it took more than 2 months to complete this arduous task. It’s hard to blame any one person as it was a mixture of many people (including even a little bit myself) and outside events that resulted in the delay. The wonderful fact is that I finally have internet!!
The fact that I have internet at home doesn’t necessarily mean that I will never have to deal with the awful internet cafes in the city ever again (being surround by 13 y/o boys loudly cussing at each other in Russian at an ill-played move in their game of Halo 3 tends to make it a little difficult to concentrate on your tasks), as I’m still subject to the crumbling infrastructure that is often a fact of life here in Ukraine. Power outages still unfortunately occur on a daily basis. No power=no modem. Also, computers are computers no matter where you live, and if I somehow make it a full two and a half years of living abroad without having any technical problems with my computer, it’ll be nothing short of a miracle. Furthermore, even though so far the quality of the internet service is sufficient for my needs, I won’t rule out any problems with the Company provider. I’ve heard stories from other volunteers having their internet inexplicably go out for days at a time, with no help from the service provider, which tells them that there must be something wrong with their modem. I’m not getting my hopes up for a problem-free relationship with my internet provider, but for now, I’m definitely basking in the joys of the internet that I’ve almost forgotten…
…Streaming video of the Daily Show, The Office and other programs that help satisfy my small desire for American culture and familiarity; access to music and movies that help through the inevitable down time (thanks Aaron!); access to the outside world again, such as internet radio programs, news and analysis; the help it will provide me with my lesson and activity planning; general entertainment…Ah the unlimited possibilities of the internet. And this list isn’t even including the obvious opportunity of keeping in touch with friends and family and keeping up my blog.
So today is my first blog post here in Ukraine, which also just so happens to be our group’s one year anniversary of coming to Ukraine (and also group 37’s first day in Ukraine!). It almost seems like yesterday that we arrived in Kyiv, exhausted after the long uncomfortable flight, only to be greeted with the crappy news that somehow, the airline lost some 70+/- people’s luggage somewhere between Frankfurt and Kyiv. Hopefully the new group will be greeted with something a little better.
But the past year certainly has been an experience I’ll never forget. Even though it feels like the last year has gone by quickly, I think it has been one of the most trying times in my life. I’ve probably grown as a person more this past year than any other previous year. I’ve had a lot of time and need to reflect, not just on my experience and life here, but on things and life in general. Sometimes it’s self reflection by choice, other times is by force. For example, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought, after just witnessing something questionable, “Ok, now was that something cultural, or was that just plain wrong?” I’ve done a lot more moral pondering in the past year that I ever did and maybe should have done in America.
While I unquestionably have changed as a person, to say how I’ve changed specifically is a little more difficult. Maybe after another year of pondering this will become a little more clear. Or perhaps it’ll become even more fuzzy…who knows.
But, without a doubt, even despite all of the inevitable challenges and difficult moments, my experience in Ukraine so far has been good. The first 3 months of training were difficult, especially considering it was my second 3 month training in a row after Georgia, and just considering the whole slew of emotions I was still carrying over from the events in Georgia. But as a whole, I’m probably the happiest I’ve been in my life here. And I try to remind myself of this every time things seem hard. And if this doesn’t work, then I’ll resort back to the fail-proof “what the hell would I be doing back in America right now if I weren’t here??”
What the hell would I be doing in America right now if I weren’t here?? I really don’t know, and this question is probably best left as rhetorical, because I’m not ready to be back in America yet. In the meantime, I’ll continue to endure being laughed at by 5th graders after yelling at them in grammatically incorrect Ukrainian; I’ll continue to eat salo (pig fat) and holodets (refrigerated and jellied meat grease) and wash it down with samahon (homemade vodka/rocket fuel) even though I really just want to eat pizza, drink a beer and go to bed; and I’ll continue to smile and say “da” (yes) to Russian-speaking Ukrainians, even though I have no idea what the hell they're telling me. I sometimes miss the familiarity and understanding of things (especially the language) that America could give me. But at least here even the boring days are interesting and the planned days are unpredictable. And for the time being, this is ok with me. Bring on another year!!
The fact that I have internet at home doesn’t necessarily mean that I will never have to deal with the awful internet cafes in the city ever again (being surround by 13 y/o boys loudly cussing at each other in Russian at an ill-played move in their game of Halo 3 tends to make it a little difficult to concentrate on your tasks), as I’m still subject to the crumbling infrastructure that is often a fact of life here in Ukraine. Power outages still unfortunately occur on a daily basis. No power=no modem. Also, computers are computers no matter where you live, and if I somehow make it a full two and a half years of living abroad without having any technical problems with my computer, it’ll be nothing short of a miracle. Furthermore, even though so far the quality of the internet service is sufficient for my needs, I won’t rule out any problems with the Company provider. I’ve heard stories from other volunteers having their internet inexplicably go out for days at a time, with no help from the service provider, which tells them that there must be something wrong with their modem. I’m not getting my hopes up for a problem-free relationship with my internet provider, but for now, I’m definitely basking in the joys of the internet that I’ve almost forgotten…
…Streaming video of the Daily Show, The Office and other programs that help satisfy my small desire for American culture and familiarity; access to music and movies that help through the inevitable down time (thanks Aaron!); access to the outside world again, such as internet radio programs, news and analysis; the help it will provide me with my lesson and activity planning; general entertainment…Ah the unlimited possibilities of the internet. And this list isn’t even including the obvious opportunity of keeping in touch with friends and family and keeping up my blog.
So today is my first blog post here in Ukraine, which also just so happens to be our group’s one year anniversary of coming to Ukraine (and also group 37’s first day in Ukraine!). It almost seems like yesterday that we arrived in Kyiv, exhausted after the long uncomfortable flight, only to be greeted with the crappy news that somehow, the airline lost some 70+/- people’s luggage somewhere between Frankfurt and Kyiv. Hopefully the new group will be greeted with something a little better.
But the past year certainly has been an experience I’ll never forget. Even though it feels like the last year has gone by quickly, I think it has been one of the most trying times in my life. I’ve probably grown as a person more this past year than any other previous year. I’ve had a lot of time and need to reflect, not just on my experience and life here, but on things and life in general. Sometimes it’s self reflection by choice, other times is by force. For example, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought, after just witnessing something questionable, “Ok, now was that something cultural, or was that just plain wrong?” I’ve done a lot more moral pondering in the past year that I ever did and maybe should have done in America.
While I unquestionably have changed as a person, to say how I’ve changed specifically is a little more difficult. Maybe after another year of pondering this will become a little more clear. Or perhaps it’ll become even more fuzzy…who knows.
But, without a doubt, even despite all of the inevitable challenges and difficult moments, my experience in Ukraine so far has been good. The first 3 months of training were difficult, especially considering it was my second 3 month training in a row after Georgia, and just considering the whole slew of emotions I was still carrying over from the events in Georgia. But as a whole, I’m probably the happiest I’ve been in my life here. And I try to remind myself of this every time things seem hard. And if this doesn’t work, then I’ll resort back to the fail-proof “what the hell would I be doing back in America right now if I weren’t here??”
What the hell would I be doing in America right now if I weren’t here?? I really don’t know, and this question is probably best left as rhetorical, because I’m not ready to be back in America yet. In the meantime, I’ll continue to endure being laughed at by 5th graders after yelling at them in grammatically incorrect Ukrainian; I’ll continue to eat salo (pig fat) and holodets (refrigerated and jellied meat grease) and wash it down with samahon (homemade vodka/rocket fuel) even though I really just want to eat pizza, drink a beer and go to bed; and I’ll continue to smile and say “da” (yes) to Russian-speaking Ukrainians, even though I have no idea what the hell they're telling me. I sometimes miss the familiarity and understanding of things (especially the language) that America could give me. But at least here even the boring days are interesting and the planned days are unpredictable. And for the time being, this is ok with me. Bring on another year!!
First Post
Because of a mixture of busyness, laziness and lack of internet access, I’ve until now limited myself to just sending the rare mass email about my experiences here in Ukraine. But now that I have the great fortune of home internet, I’ve decided to (try) to keep up my blog. As you can see below, I haven’t done a very good job in doing this!
Also regarding this blog, I’ve decided to keep it password protected which I’ll freely give to any and all of my trusted family and friends. Feel free to email me: walterbr399@gmail.com
Also regarding this blog, I’ve decided to keep it password protected which I’ll freely give to any and all of my trusted family and friends. Feel free to email me: walterbr399@gmail.com
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